Rex was dreading the talk.
But surprisingly, it went far better than he anticipated.
Now there is no secret between them, and that would surely improve their relationship.
In fact, there was even a possibility of asking for help from Princess Davina since she now knew what he wanted. Of course, Rex wasn’t sure whether it would be a good idea or not, but she had principles, and that made her trustworthy.
Morning ca.
Rex was inside the bedroom, lying on the bed, but he wasn’t sleeping.
His eyes were wide awake as he waited for morning to co.
Looking outside the window, the sky was still dark, but he could check through the System that the ti was exactly half past three. It was still a good hour before sunrise, but Rex could already sense a sudden gathering outside his room.
Not a gathering of energy, but sothing else.
A presence that was so light that it was basically non-existent.
If not for the Minor Law of Misdirection enveloping his room, he would’ve missed it.
Rex sat up on the edge of the bed, a groan escaping his mouth as he checked his condition.
Reading the notifications, Rex nodded firmly.
His body has now adapted, and he can move without needing to worry about the pain.
Of course, he still feels it, and it was still excruciating—but he wouldn’t flinch anymore.
It’s crushing my mind—the pressure is... unbearable, like I’m one breath away from bursting apart.
But I need to be able to move.
Inhaling deeply, he put on his robe and headed for the door.
As soon as he pushed the door open, he saw soone was already waiting for him.
Kei Xun was sitting on the sofa in her actual form.
Only her head turned when Rex entered the living room.
I was wondering how she’d get to when I’m here, but I thought she could co here directly. It seed not even the Duke’s palace could sense—her presence. Just who exactly are these Scions? Who has the right to choose them? And how high does their power reach?
Rex wasn’t the only one who was reeling inside.
’He sensed coming... He’s a baby, but he has potential. Sadly, it’s not good enough.’
Kei Xun sighed lightly.
"Good morning."
"Good morning."
Rex sat down comfortably on the sofa across from Kei Xun.
He had already been waiting for her to co all night long, curious as to what she was going to share.
"So, how are you going to guide to the First Stage?"
"From the basics. I’ll show you what the First Stage looks like."
Hearing this, Rex leaned forward—his interest was piqued.
Since Kei Xun was going to show him how the First Stage of Invincibility looked, he wasn’t going to waste this opportunity. He was going to take in every single detail—and hoped that he could sohow replicate it quickly.
Under his inspection, Kei Xun closed her eyes.
Rex is expecting a transformation, a surge of power, or even a fundantal change within her.
But it was none of that.
Kei Xun rely closed her golden eyes.
For a breath, the world held still.
Then, she opened them.
However, unlike before, the golden shimr was gone.
In its place, brilliant blue light flooded her eyes, radiant and alive.
Tears followed—glowing, otherworldly tears that slid down her cheeks in perfect vertical lines.
Such a sight made it seem as though she was crying, but she wasn’t; there was no weep that ca out of her mouth. Rex’s brows dipped into a frown as a strange weight settled in the air around her. It wasn’t just that sothing had taken over; no, it felt as if sothing inside her had been erased.
It created this presence that wasn’t entirely hers.
But sohow, Rex found this scene familiar, as if he had done this before.
"The Disconnect is the First Stage—for a Scion to get closer to the Highseat of Invincibility," Kei Xun explained as if this change was normal. "Achieving it will help you a lot, and you’ll also be considered a toddler by my standard instead of a baby. Scions who achieved this stage are called Blanks."
"Woah, woah... hold on a minute. I’m still not sure what even happened to you."
Rex stopped her from saying more.
He still didn’t understand what the changes in her ant.
Kei Xun wasn’t annoyed—she listened to Rex attentively and tried to understand his perspective.
Showing her state is usually enough, even to a new Scion, but it seed Rex was really new.
He didn’t know a single thing about Scions.
"I’m talking—about the Invincible Apparition inside of you," She pointed her index finger at him, as if she could see exactly where the Invincible Apparition was. "Talent is not the only important factor for soone to be chosen as a Scion. Drive too. And the Invincible Apparition is the representative of your drive. In your case, it’s anger."
Based on what Kei Xun said next, the Invincible Apparition can be fueled by five emotions.
Anger, Happiness, Sadness, Fear, and Disgust.
Those five drives are the only ones acknowledged by the Highseat of Invincibility.
Each Scion has an Invincible Apparition inside of them fueled by one of those acknowledged drives, and making peace with it—or accepting it fully would mark the Scion’s ascension to the First Stage and becoming a Blank.
"Once you beco a Blank, you can activate the Invincible Apparition at will as you’re essentially one with it, like this," Kei Xun pointed at her eyes. "And in this state, your drive—can be either heavily suppressed or heavily amplified, depending on what you want."
"Heavily suppressed?" Rex raised a brow in confusion. "Why would I need to do that?"
"If your strongest drive is suppressed, you essentially beco numb and impartial. It’s very useful if the only way out of your situation is sothing that you can’t do consciously. Sothing that is against your moral compass."
"Like what?"
"Killing your own family, for example."
Rex’s heart skipped a beat when he heard that.
He had done everything to beco stronger with the System’s help and reach where he was right now.
Fortunately, he was never placed in a position where he had to do sothing like that.
But from the way Kei Xun said it, nonchalant and passive, it seed that it was nothing for her.
No, not nothing, but normal.
Every Scion must’ve experienced that at so point, and it was simply not Rex’s turn yet.
Being confronted by that reality alone made Rex swallow hard.
Did the Supre One experience that? Is this why the sudden change in him?
Rex learned sothing new, but more questions appeared in his mind.
Ignoring the noticeable shock on his face, Kei Xun continued.
"As you might already have guessed, mine is sadness. On top of having full control of your drive, you’ll also get a gift from the Highseat of Invincibility. An ability we Scions called Absolute Effect, and mine was the Absolute Sadness Effect, giving perfect mory and the ability to see the past in myself, people, and also inanimate things."
"See the past...?"
"Yes. Your breakfast before the tragedy, your dear Mrs. Greene, your soon-to-co daughter... I knew all about you, Rex Silverstar. Even your first innocent kill of that very... very young lunch lady in the Noob Box that seed to scar you deeply since you cried for her like a little girl."
Hearing this, Rex’s face darkened.
He never felt like this before, exposed, naked, as if every secret that he had was spilled.
Kei Xun knew all of it without him even knowing how.
Heck, even the System didn’t alert him.
No, that can’t be. The System has to sense her. I refused to believe that it didn’t.
Almost instantly, Rex scrolled through the notification log, scrolling through hundreds of notifications until his eyes settled on a notification that had a different format than the others. The ti stamp showed that it happened when he was in the Forsaken Tower.
...
...
Three notifications warned him of soone infiltrating his mind.
It was certainly Kei Xun.
Rex shouldn’t miss these notifications, but Kei Xun must’ve watched him carefully.
Even though he was within the Ti Echo at the ti, there were cracks on the walls where the sunlight could seep through. Kei Xun could see anyone exposed to the sunlight, so she must’ve waited until he passed out before making her move to be safe.
His intense training made him occasionally pass out.
So, there were a lot of opportunities for Kei Xun to do this.
Kei Xun smiled a little, seeing how distraught Rex was from knowing this.
"Don’t wear such a face. I could’ve hidden it, but I didn’t."
"I guess you didn’t."
Rex exhaled lightly, and his face returned to normal again, back to being stoic.
"So, what do I need to do to beco a Blank?"
"Get used to your Invincible Apparition taking control of your body—get used to being nothing but a passenger. When the mont cos, you will need to absorb it at its weakest, and that’s when it’s in control of your body."
Kei Xun disappeared into strands of sunlight once she said that.
She already told Rex what he needed to know.
"I’ll co again to resu this. Take your ti to process what I said."
Once she was gone, Rex was left sitting alone in the living room.
Silence is his companion, and he stayed there until it was ti for the morning eting.
...
As planned, Rex and Princess Davina talked with Duke Lorcan the next day about taking a private stroll.
Expecting to fight a little, they were surprised to find Duke Lorcan allowing them to leave easily.
It seed their display of affection really did the trick.
Since it was a lover’s escape, Rex couldn’t bring Amanir and Kraken, which would blow their cover if he did. But surprisingly enough, Princess Davina told him that she didn’t mind bringing him to places. A kind gesture from her part, but surely with reason.
Perhaps, she wanted to build a beneficial relationship between them.
One that she could use in the future in case of a difficult situation against Duke Lorcan.
Unlike the spirit beast that the noble mainly used, Princess Davina brought him to a massive bird that had lustrous erald feathers. It has a long, elegant tail and is shaped flawlessly—the most beautiful bird Rex has ever seen.
Rex knew of this bird.
People in the Duke’s bubble spoke about it a lot.
It’s called the Celestial Verdant Hawk.
"Don’t look into her eyes, you’ll scare her." Princess Davina said—while rubbing the bird’s neck. "Her na is Esravon, and she has been my companion since I was born. My very first friend, a gift from my mother."
"She’s beautiful."
Rex comnted truthfully.
No mutated birds in the Mortal Realm could compare to this spirit hawk.
"She has the power to block the Black Rift’s influence, so there’s no need for a Seeker. Co," Princess Davina leaped and landed on the hawk’s back, gesturing for Rex to do the sa. "We should depart or risk my father changing his mind."
Hearing this, Rex didn’t instantly get on.
He turned to Esravon, not looking directly into her eyes.
"I’ll be getting on you now, don’t be startled."
Scree!
Princess Davina smiled in approval before Rex leaped and landed right behind her.
Once both of them were on, Esravon spread her wings wide.
Then, with one powerful flap, she created a violent gust of wind that shot them instantly to the sky.
Recalling his experience of riding a big bird like this, Rex tensed his body so that he wouldn’t fall, but he was quite surprised to find that he didn’t feel any air resistance at all. He could remain standing with relative ease, even when Esravon began to fly with speed.
It was the life energy from Esravon protecting them from the outside influence.
Pretty convenient.
Swoosh!
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